Premise: It is not a remake of the 1982 film The Slumber Party Massacre, which revolved around a girls’ slumber party which becomes a bloodbath when an escaped mental patient arrives with a power drill. It is a continuation of the original film with a new generation. (Wikipedia)
What I Liked: There’s a few nuggets of goodness to pull out from this otherwise mediocre direct to small screen horror. I like that our main protagonists aren’t only just female, but among them are females of color. There’s a horror movie trope that you’re likely the first to go if you black in a horror movie… if not the first to go, then you’ll definitely face the most gruesome death. Syfy’s re-imagining of this classic tries its best to be woke and subversive. This 2021 version works best when it stays in the lane. For example the aforementioned slumber party is in fact a ploy to lure out the Driller Killer. It was an interesting twist I didn’t expect.
And not only that but the true slumber party massacre begins with the bros weekend at the cabin across the lake. Complete with eye candy and rated PG 13 exploitation of the male form.
The gender flip wasn’t lost on me and I appreciated the humor. I appreciated it more when the characters were hip to the joke.
Horror comedy can be hard to pull off but when its done right (spoofing all the tropes ala Scary Movie franchise) it makes for a fun time.
What I Didn’t Like: Slumber Party Massacre (2021) had several missed opportunities. It couldn’t decide if it wanted to stay Horror Comedy or a straight thriller. It doesn’t make or break the movie. It just an observation. It’s hard to hear characters joke about two characters named Guy and then leave droughts before the next punch line. The emotional maturity the film tries to convey gets cheapened if you aren’t sure what kind of film you want.
What made the original slasher a hit was that everything was subtle. The theme of female bodies and female conquest of the tool of destruction weren’t in your face. Nothing was censored. So it’s hard to imagine how things could possibly be censored in this film. I guess male bums are still too much for the Syfy network? Because everything is so tongue in cheek, the subtlety is thrown out the window.
Because the film doesn’t know what to be, it missed opportunities to explore race (the survivor of the first massacre in the film’s intro is a black woman). That hardly gets addressed how she was attacked by a white male and has lived in fear ever since. Or how about how in this remake motherhood is discussed and the lengths mothers would go. However there poignant narrative is forgotten.
There’s plot holes, but I refuse to discuss them, because they refused to give us answers.
Verdict: It’s almost nonsense, but its well-acted enough, and funny enough, with some descent body gore that I say it’s worth catching while it last. Watch it know on the Syfy network.